Lucknow Police Busts Inter-State Cyber Fraud Racket Operating Through Telegram, Eight Arrested
Lucknow: In a major crackdown on cybercrime, Lucknow Police has arrested eight members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang that was operating through the Telegram app and allegedly working in coordination with Chinese cybercriminal networks. The gang had been involved in duping people across India out of crores of rupees through elaborate scams including digital arrest frauds, fake work-from-home tasks, online crypto trading rackets, and impersonation-based task frauds.
During the raid, police recovered ₹1.75 lakh in cash, 12 mobile phones, 13 ATM cards, 3 checkbooks, and 2 bank passbooks from the arrested accused. Investigations revealed that the gang was in direct contact with Chinese cyber fraud groups through Telegram channels like “32-105/1” and “PAYGir G0!”. After establishing contact with financially vulnerable individuals from different parts of the country, they would lure them into opening bank accounts under the pretext of high-income jobs and freelance digital work. Once the accounts were set up, the gang would collect checkbooks, ATM cards, passbooks, and full banking access including internet banking credentials and hand these over to the Chinese fraudsters.
The fraudsters then used these accounts to receive money siphoned through various online scams. The gang members would withdraw the money in cash, keep a commission for themselves, and convert the remaining amount into cryptocurrency—specifically USDT—which was transferred through digital wallets to foreign entities, mainly in China.
Police investigations have also revealed that several of the bank accounts used in the fraud were linked to cybercrime complaints filed in states like Haryana, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, amounting to over ₹6 crore in reported losses. Coordination with law enforcement authorities in these states has already begun to expand the probe and build a stronger legal case.
Those arrested in the case have been identified as Rahul Sonkar (22), Mohammad Salman (28), Devansh Shukla (19), Raj Rawat (21), Faizan (21), Mojiz (21), Ankit Yadav (22), all from different areas of Lucknow, and Karan Rawat (19) from Sitapur Road. The arrests were made by a joint team from the Lucknow Cyber Crime Cell and the local cyber police station under the direction of Police Commissioner Amrendra Kumar Sengar. A team of senior officers and cyber forensic experts is now working on tracing digital footprints and financial trails to dismantle the remaining links of the racket. The police have stated that more arrests are likely in the coming days as deeper links to international cybercrime syndicates are being uncovered.
